Posted on November, 11 2013
With these words, the official ceremony in which WWF formalized its support to the Peruvian Government towards COP 20, began.
“We know WWF´s track record, we are good old friends and they have a very strong team. They are a serious and professional organization that has historically worked in conservation and now in policies with the aim of preserving the world’s welfare. It’s a pleasure and honor to work with WWF” stated the Minister of the Environment Manuel Pulgar Vidal, moments before signing the agreement of support presented by Patricia León Melgar – WWF Peru’s Country Representative.
WWF has over 45 years of presence in Peru. In this regard, its aim is to collaborate with the Peruvian government to make the COP20 a driving force for commitments, such as promoting renewable energies and energy efficiency, increasing climate funding to reduce emissions, defining new long-term climate goals for every country and fostering adaptation initiatives.
“Peru has the unique opportunity of positioning itself in a platform for change, since it is one of the wealthiest countries for the development of renewable energy; it has great potential” added Mrs. Kakabadse.
In that context, WWF´s commitment is doubly important since it manifests its disposition to provide technical support to the Peruvian Government, through the Ministry of the Environment. Such support aims to incorporate input from the national civil society and indigenous peoples and organizations, as well as to mobilize public opinion, and to facilitate an open debate at a global level.
“This is not only the largest international event in Peru’s history, but also a milestone in the development of a Peruvian and regional position [regarding climate change action]. Peru will be a facilitator to address the different bottlenecks. The COP represents a big episode for change, and also a great opportunity for Peru to position and bring international attention to concepts such as Amazon forests, water and glaciers, science, and sustainable cities. The COP20 in Lima is important because it is the central link in the chain of three continuous COPs. We are already preparing and will certainly make this COP the most successful one” concluded Minister Pulgar Vidal.
COP 20: HISTORIC ROLE FOR PERU
COP 20 in Peru is a critical milestone for the UNFCCC negotiations but also presents a critical opportunity for the Latin American and Caribbean Region. The timing of this COP is highly important, since it would come before the key COP 21 in Paris where the final decisions for a new global climate agreement will be reached. In addition to this, the COP in Peru will be held after the Leaders’ Summit hosted by Ban Ki Moon in September 2014.
This places a huge responsibility on the Peruvian COP Presidency to ensure that COP 20 delivers the key decisions required to make COP 21 successful, including concrete pre-2020 actions on mitigation and finance, new national targets from countries and a draft text of a 2015 agreement by the end COP 20.
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